“We will NOT negotiate under pressure and intimidation. We will NOT even consider it, no matter what the subject may be. Negotiation is different from bullying and issuing diktats,” Abbas Araghchi said on X, stressing that Tehran’s nuclear program “has always been - and will always remain - entirely peaceful.”
Araghchi said that Tehran is consulting with E3 countries – Britain, France, and Germany – as well as Russia and China “on equal footing and mutual respect” to build greater transparency for its nuclear program in a bid to remove “unlawful sanctions.”
On Saturday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the country will not accept demands from a “bully” who only seeks dominance rather than solving problems. He did not name the United States, but his comments come a day after US President Donald Trump said he sent a letter to the Supreme Leader in a bid to open nuclear negotiations.
Iran’s mission to the UN on Sunday downplayed the possibility of negotiations that aim to disrupt Tehran’s “peaceful nuclear program.”
If the objective of negotiations is to address concerns vis-à-vis any potential militarization of Iran’s nuclear program, such discussions may be subject to consideration. However, should the aim be the dismantlement of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program to claim that what Obama…
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) March 9, 2025
Under a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for much-needed relief from crippling sanctions.
But the deal began unraveling in 2018 when Trump, during his first term, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and imposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic, which in turn began escalating its nuclear enrichment efforts.
Soon after returning to power this year, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” policy that authorized sanctions with the goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or expanding its missile program, warning that Tehran is “too close” to a nuclear weapon.
Trump has said that he would be open to making a new nuclear deal with Tehran, but in February, Khamenei said it would be “unwise” to negotiate with the US.
“In the past, the US enjoyed respect from Iran whenever it was respectful in its discourse, and it was confronted whenever it adopted a threatening posture. Every action compels a reaction,” Araghchi stressed.
